Good Krief, singer to play Oxford

Singer-songwriter Krief – a former member of renowned Montreal band The Dears – is heading to Oxford this month.

Patrick Krief, who has opened gigs for Keane and Morrissey and appeared on the Jonathan Ross Show and David Letterman’s show, will play The Wheatsheaf, Oxford on November 21.

His tour comes as he releases his solo album Automanic, which deals with Krief’s personal grief over the loss of family members.

He said: “Automanic was an album that helped me escape a terrible era.

“Every song was its own individual therapy session in which I confronted myself and urged myself to get rid of all the people and habits that were toxic in my life.

I wanted the album to have a nice dense linear arrangement to it. It took months of mixing and remixing the album to finally achieve what I was hearing in my mind.

“Automanic is a double LP separated into two ‘chapters’, Red and Blue. Red being the more aggressive, forward and assertive chapter while Blue is introspective, and dreamy.

“The album was written during a period of turmoil in my life and I like to see it as an ultimate story of survival and triumph.”

Ahead of his Oxford gig, Krief spoke to us about his music, career highs and visiting the city.

Describing his music as “pop music from another era. Synth infused, orchestral at times, eclectic, but mostly rock n roll” he said he was looking forward to playing in the city again, having previously performed at the Zodiac.

Asked about opening gigs for Keane and Morrissey, he said: “It’s always a humbling, slightly terrifying experience to open for a huge name in an arena or other massive venue.

“Playing that type of stage is a performance art of its own. There is no greater honour than being asked to open for such bands.

“It’s also quite inspiring to experience their performances from side stage.”

For Krief, one of his most memorable career moments was playing on the David Letterman Show. Krief said: “I grew up watching that show with my brother, almost religiously.

“I always told myself I would be a guest on it some-day, I spent many nights visualizing that moment.

“Of course, when it finally came to fruition, I was outside myself and extremely nervous.

“Luckily we got to play the show twice ‘cause I hardly remember the first time.”

Luckily for his Oxford audience though, there won’t be any nerves, Krief said: “We will be performing as a semi-acoustic duo.